RSC PPT Template

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Chemistry, Energy and Climate Change Dr Richard
Pike Royal Society of Chemistry Tuesday 3 June,
2008, Lerwick

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Some key energy facts

• UK energy consumption statistics show that 30 of
  the energy generated is lost before it reaches
  end-user
• 42 of non-transport energy consumption is used
  to heat buildings, and in turn, a third of this
  energy is lost through windows
• Transportation represents 74 of UK oil usage and
  25 of UK carbon emissions
• To achieve the 2010 EU 5.75 biofuels target
  would require 19 of arable land to be converted
  from food to bio-fuel crops

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Chemical science can provide energy that is

• Secure
• Affordable
• Sustainable

Addressing climate change
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Key messages are

• Saving energy is critical
• Nurture and harness research skills
• Provide vision, mechanisms and funding to deliver
  solutions

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Energy usage depends on the type of fuel world
picture
FOSSIL AND FISSILE
Power
Heating
Transport
Chemicals
Oil, gas, coal 80
Uranium 7
11.1 Gt/annum oil
equivalent
RENEWABLES
Biomass 10
Photo-voltaics, wind, tidal, hydro 3
Carbon positive
Carbon neutral with radioactive waste
Carbon neutral
40 of 8.8 GtC/annum (3.5GtC) into atmosphere of
5,300,000 Gt where already around 750 GtC
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Some early observations are alarming

• Focus on some, trivial energy-saving schemes is
  detracting from the big picture
• Lack of global, decisive strategy is leading to
  extraordinary contradictions melting of
  permafrost ? more opportunities to drill for oil
• Lack of appreciation of numbers, mechanisms and
  processes is inhibiting good decision-making
  yields, life cycle analysis, pros and cons,
  economicseg balance of wind vs tidal, solar vs
  biofuel

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Global and national strategies must be integrated

• Global strategy must be based not on fossil
  fuels are running out, but we must address
  climate change
• Major consumer country strategies (eg UK) must
• respond to declining local oil and gas supply
• conserve for high-value applications
• improve utilisation and efficiencies throughout
  the supply chain
• innovate with these and other non-fossil energy
  sources

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Future energy portfolios must address usage and
waste management
High fossil fuel usage with CCS, low renewables
and fissile centralised
Total energy demand, with reduced carbon dioxide
emissions
Energy demand
Low fossil fuel usage with CCS, high renewables
and fissile decentralised, diverse
Time
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CCS could be the most massive industrial chemical
process in history - globally tens of millions
of tonnes/day
Energy
POST-COMBUSTION
Carbon dioxide
Fuel
Water
water
Carbon dioxide
Energy
PRE-COMBUSTION
Hydrogen
Fuel
Water
Key technologies are cost-effective capture, and
underground or subsea storage in gaseous, liquid
or solid states without contamination
Carbon dioxide
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A longer-term scenario has extensive fossil-fuel
CCS, biomass and hydrogen
FOSSIL AND FISSILE
Power
Heating
Transport
Chemicals
Oil, gas, coal
Uranium
RENEWABLES
Biomass
Photo-voltaics, wind, tidal, hydro
Carbon neutral with radioactive waste
Carbon positive reduced by recycle
Carbon neutral
Carbon neutral using hydrogen from both
hydrocarbons (reforming) and electrolysis
Electricity and hydrogen storage key
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Currently even clean fuels from fossil sources
are very energy intensive -solving
this is all chemistry
60
40
Loss as carbon dioxide in production process
could be captured with CCS
Carbon dioxide emissions
Gas conversion technology
SOx- and NOx-free combustion in consuming country
60
100
Liquid fuel
Natural, biomass-derived or coal- derived gas
Catalyst technology is key to improving
production efficiencies In general, whole-life
assessments must be undertaken for all energy
processes
Sulphur and trace heavy metals
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Nuclear cycle requires significant chemical
science support
Recycling of recovered unused uranium plutonium
Nuclear reactors
Nuclear re-processing
Uranium plutonium
Spent fuel 96 unused
Key technologies are in processing efficiencies,
waste encapsulation, environmental and
biological monitoring, and risk management
Radioactive solids and gases as waste material
some with half-lives of more than a million
years
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Long-term sustainable energy is likely to be from
solar photo-voltaics (SPV) and concentrated solar
power (CSP)
Alternating current (CSP)
Water ? steam
Direct current
Alternating current (SPV)
hydrogen
Key technologies are in more cost-effective
manufacture, energy conversion (from global
annual average of 174 W/m2 at Earths surface),
transmission efficiency, electricity storage,
hydrogen storage and new materials for
sustainability
Even wind and tidal will require anti-corrosion
coatings, based on nano-technology developments
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Key issue will be making the best use of all
resources all chemistry driven
Power
Value-added, carbon-neutral recyclable materials
ENERGY- PRODUCT INTEGRATION
Resource optimisation and land usage
Energy conversion Concentrated solar
power gt 20 Photo-voltaics 20
Biofuels lt 1 4
tonnes/hectare
Waste heat
Optimal area utilisation for food, biomass,
photo-voltaics, population and infrastructure?
Eg bio-refinery with combined heat and power
supporting the community with district heating
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This is the principal oil slate for green
substitution 34 of energy
100
Sulphur content of typical light oil
Residue 350ºC
Typical light oil
0.3
Gas oil 250-350ºC
0.1
50
Cumulative yield
Kerosene 140-250ºC
0.01
Naphtha 70-140ºC
0.002
Light gasoline 0-70ºC
0
0.001
0.80
1.00
0.90
Density of oil kg/l
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Illustrative substitutions by end-user application
100
Residue ? hydrogen, electricity (power, heating,
transport?)
Gas oil ? bio-fuels, hydrogen,
electricity (cars?)
50
Kerosene ? bio-fuels (flight?)
Cumulative yield
Naphtha bio-mass (chemicals?)
Light gasoline ? bio-fuel (cars?)
0
0.80
1.00
0.90
Density kg/l
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Biofuel yields per hectare for selected feedstock
Figure taken from Sustainable biofuels
prospects and challenges, The Royal Society,
policy document 01/08, January 2008
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We need to consider Life Cycle Analysis and
carbon payback period
Illustrative net savings 1-3 tonnes/hectare year
versus fossil fuel use
Carbon dioxide emissions tonnes/hectare
Time/years
Carbon payback period many decades
Initial land clearing with poor regulation
(100200 tonnes/hectare)
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We must also encourage people to think out of
the box

• Artificial photosynthesis to capture existing
  carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• Combining this with photosynthetic electricity
  generation
• Massive reforestation, including
  genetically-modified plants (or even sea
  plankton) to capture carbon dioxide more rapidly,
  and recognition of fertiliser requirements
• Realisation that captured carbon dioxide must be
  stored for thousands of years biological
  devices will have to be prevented from decaying
  to avoid re-release of the gas
• Use of CCS even for biofuels, to provide net
  reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide
• Photo-catalytic and biochemical decomposition of
  water to generate hydrogen

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Chemical science can support the entire value
chain life-cycle analysis
Conversion -Catalysis -Novel processes -Nuclear
reactor science -Environmental monitoring -Materia
ls chemistry -Hydrogen storage -Fuel
cells -Photo-voltaic efficiencies -Energy-product
integration -Battery technology -Light-weight
materials -Analytical chemistry
Waste Management -Carbon capture and
storage -Nuclear fuel processing -Nuclear waste
storage -Environmental monitoring -Recyclable
materials -Biochemistry and genetics -Analytical
chemistry
Resources -Geochemistry -Quantification -Extractio
n -Environmental monitoring -Fertilisers -Biomass
development -Analytical chemistry
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It will also be essential to have a supply chain
of skills to support this
Energy issues seen as business opportunities not
just problems
Energy and environmental issues permeate society
Funding for science teaching and research
Primary school
Sec school
Under- graduate
Post- graduate
Industry
Energy and environmental issues covered more
quantitatively in the curriculum
Key skills include nuclear chemistry,
photo-voltaics, biomass, catalysis, carbon
management, materials
More qualified science teachers
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Key messages are

• Saving energy is critical
• Nurture and harness research skills
• Provide vision, mechanisms and funding to deliver
  solutions

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Key Royal Society of Chemistrydocument (2005)
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Chemistry, Energy and Climate Change Dr Richard
Pike Royal Society of Chemistry Tuesday 3 June,
2008, Lerwick